Today was pretty much of a washout in terms of achievement on the bus. The blinds didn't get put up. The main breaker didn't get installed. Nothing really was achieved. I have no real excuse for that. I guess I really wasn't feeling too great what with the sudden hot day, the time change and general depression.
Despite all that, I did wipe down the power socket cover with paint thinner. Then it was sprayed with grey paint. If the paint sticks then the thinner trick works. As a control sample, another area where the paint was peeling was wiped down with thinner and sprayed. It'll be interesting to see if the thinner trick actually works. I have my doubts.
The old main breaker box, I cleaned up and removed the cables, rescuing the TT30 plug that was attached to it. The next stage was to bore a hole in one side that would accommodate my 3/4" cable sleeves. That was a challenge that took literally hours. The main cause of the slowness was that the tool was entirely inappropriate. Now the reason I used an inappropriate tool is that I make so few holes of that diameter that rather than spend $25 on the proper hole saw, I spent $7 on a cheap hole saw designed for wood. I simply use it for metal and regard it as disposable. So, the hole was bored upon which the rainspots that had been hitting me off and on for the past few minutes turned into a torrential downpour.
Retreating inside the bus, I pulled out a file and filed the hole to make it really work with the inlet. After the rain had drenched the outside world, I worked on the hole a little more with the hole saw. Then the inlet was inserted followed by the end of the 3 foot section of 8-3 cable that raised so many eyebrows in Lowes (hiss, spit). The other end will go into my sub panel.
I never got as far as installing the panel. It was rather warm in the bus, hence my thoughts about a solar-powered extraction fan. I did have a go at installng a roller blind to replace the fallen stick-up blinds. Thus, I pulled out the battery drill and started drilling and drilled and drilled and drilled and made a small hole but not deep enough to achieve anything. At that point the light went so for possibly the very first time I put power through the inlet socket I installed and had light inside the bus powered by 120v mains power. That worked quite well.
I had a look for the vehicle registration documents but didn't find them in the obvious place. Clearly they much be somewhere less obvious. I need them to be able to send off to apply to have the bus retitled as a motorhome. To be absolutely honest, I think the insurance companies are being ridiculous on insisting on retitling as a motorhome just to insure everything.
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rain. Show all posts
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Monday, February 15, 2016
What a disaster!
The angels wept today and did drench the surface of the earth with their tears. Menwhile, an icy blast and possible Snowmageddon quietly began. Yes, folks, today was bitterly cold and wet. Not a good day for doing anything on the bus. Thus, today was mostly a shopping day.
In Walmart, I picked up a couple of things, the most interesting of which was for $10 a miniature cordless electric drill. It seems to charge off 6v. 20 years after everybody stopped putting NiCad batteries in things (aside from the Chinese) and it has a NiCad battery. Now normally I use a full-sized electric or cordless electric drill. Most of the time that's just fine. For my breaker box compartment it's just too big. I can't get the drill in, in order to get the holes in the right place to attach the compartment to the frame. I figured if I takes an hour a rivet hole, that drill will be worthwhile. I only need it in order to install 6 - 8 rivets! There was a better version available at $15 but I figure if this little fellow can do the job and since it's a job I probably won't have again then there's no point in spending more.
After I weld the next bits on my breaker box compartment I'll have to replace the paint that burns off so I bought more paint and some cheap brushes. At 68 cents a brush, it really isn't worth wasting gasoline on them to wash the paint out. While on the paint thing, I also got some appliance paint. I figured I can try derusting my microwave, spraying it with rust killer and then appliance paint. I know it still works - it just doesn't look pretty!
Remembering what the guy I read about the other day had said, I bought some paint thinner. The grey paint is peeling off quite well in some places. I can simply brush the loose paint off and wipe down with thinner before repainting. If the fellow mentioned online was correct then it might be the solution to problems like this:
I shall be rather glad to be in a position to register this bus as a motorhome. I feel that's getting ever closer. I could have done that with the old hillbilly compartment but wanted to redo it anyway. I am waiting on delivery of my screw eyes and rivnuts right now. These will help me to complete the shower. Then I will have a shower with a funky water delivery system but a shower nevertheless. Other than that, water disposal is taken care of with a bucket but I want to go to stage 2 and have at least one underbody tank. The proper breaker box compartment is a huge step for electrical supply and having seen the old compartment was probably little short of essential.
A 12v electrical system is not as yet planned out but the concept is there. Ideally, rather than a battery, I'll use a supercapacitor setup. That kind of thing can be left alone and it'll be just fine. No worries about overcharging nor about the cells wearing out.
I said last year that I wanted this bus done by April. It definitely looks like being this April rather than last April. If I can only get a good weekend then I can get the underbody compartent done! It is literally a tiny bit of welding, a tiny bit of painting and some rivetting and bolting away from being done. After that it's a tiny bit of plumbing, some riveting and application of restraints and the waste water system is done. Then there's erecting the shower curtain, cleaning inside and it's done.
For the future I'd want to install my 12v system, possibly an underbelly water tank and way off in the future, possibly a black tank. Then of course there's the bedroom and kitchen ventillation and that is all that I can reasonably hope to want.
After I weld the next bits on my breaker box compartment I'll have to replace the paint that burns off so I bought more paint and some cheap brushes. At 68 cents a brush, it really isn't worth wasting gasoline on them to wash the paint out. While on the paint thing, I also got some appliance paint. I figured I can try derusting my microwave, spraying it with rust killer and then appliance paint. I know it still works - it just doesn't look pretty!
Remembering what the guy I read about the other day had said, I bought some paint thinner. The grey paint is peeling off quite well in some places. I can simply brush the loose paint off and wipe down with thinner before repainting. If the fellow mentioned online was correct then it might be the solution to problems like this:
A 12v electrical system is not as yet planned out but the concept is there. Ideally, rather than a battery, I'll use a supercapacitor setup. That kind of thing can be left alone and it'll be just fine. No worries about overcharging nor about the cells wearing out.
I said last year that I wanted this bus done by April. It definitely looks like being this April rather than last April. If I can only get a good weekend then I can get the underbody compartent done! It is literally a tiny bit of welding, a tiny bit of painting and some rivetting and bolting away from being done. After that it's a tiny bit of plumbing, some riveting and application of restraints and the waste water system is done. Then there's erecting the shower curtain, cleaning inside and it's done.
For the future I'd want to install my 12v system, possibly an underbelly water tank and way off in the future, possibly a black tank. Then of course there's the bedroom and kitchen ventillation and that is all that I can reasonably hope to want.
Tuesday, December 29, 2015
Purple Heart? #nissan #baddesign
I was injured in action both today and yesterday hence its unlikely there'll be much done on the bus tomorrow.
Yesterday I was unloading my Xterra when I encountered the second of two disastrous design errors Nissan made. The two hydraulic arms that cost $80 each and hold the tailgate open had broken. This is the most assinine design ever as hydraulics always break. Then to imagine they'll last more than the warranty period! Those things broke straight after the warranty expired on them. That leaves the tailgate as a disaster waiting to happen.
Needless to say, that disaster happened yesterday when I encountered the second of Nissan's disastrous design decisions. The corner on the door is deadly. That, I can assure you, is really painful when you run into it with your head. Imagine standing underneath it when the hydraulics break - that could be deadly.
There really should be a class action against Nissan for this stupid piece of design. You can see clearly how dangerous that corner is. In my opinion, there is no finer tailgate than one that splits in the middle and opens to each side.
Today's accident involved slipping on wet stairs in the rain and sliding down the stairs to the ground. Quite a bumpy journey that left me covered in bruises. Fortunately I won't miss any paid work this week but I will miss my voluntary job. I'll also suffer yet more delays in working on the bus.
Yesterday I was unloading my Xterra when I encountered the second of two disastrous design errors Nissan made. The two hydraulic arms that cost $80 each and hold the tailgate open had broken. This is the most assinine design ever as hydraulics always break. Then to imagine they'll last more than the warranty period! Those things broke straight after the warranty expired on them. That leaves the tailgate as a disaster waiting to happen.
Needless to say, that disaster happened yesterday when I encountered the second of Nissan's disastrous design decisions. The corner on the door is deadly. That, I can assure you, is really painful when you run into it with your head. Imagine standing underneath it when the hydraulics break - that could be deadly.
Today's accident involved slipping on wet stairs in the rain and sliding down the stairs to the ground. Quite a bumpy journey that left me covered in bruises. Fortunately I won't miss any paid work this week but I will miss my voluntary job. I'll also suffer yet more delays in working on the bus.
Saturday, October 10, 2015
China wins again!
I've had major issues with US based suppliers of Nema L6-30 FI connectors. They just don't seem to want to sell the product they advertise. Twice I've had my order cancelled by some joker that says I cancelled yet I did not. Then I found a local supplier that wanted $50 for a $15 part. Others wanted $80 for a $15 part. So, the upshot was I went back to eBay and ordered the part from a Chinese supplier. I expect it will be delivered next week. I just don't get why this is such a problem for US suppliers. It's not as though customer service is a challenging skill. Equally US suppliers seem mathematically challenged. Surely its better to sell 100 of an item at $1 profit per item than to sell 1 at $40 profit?
It rained very heavily overnight. Thus when I checked the inside of the bus, I was pleased to note that water ingress where the ingress had been bad was down to a few drops. The bedroom was down too but there was still a small puddle.
Not so welcome was what had happened to my paintwork. It looks like somebody has thrown acid over the paint. I'm pretty sure they haven't but the hood will have to be redone. There's paint peeling off the rub rails too though curiously only in tiny patches and only on the tops. The roof of the bus is unaffected. It can't be the baking soda because that was all over the roof and the roof is unaffected. It's just the hood (where there was no baking soda) and selected areas on one side of the bus. Notably, under a tree but the tree is only by some affected areas.
If it was a problem with my painting Rustoleum over cellulose then surely the paint would have bubbled universally yet it has not. I'll have to load my sprayer with sugar, sugar blast the affected paint (which peels away in big flakes) then repaint with Rustoleum. Perhaps I'll spray this time.
When its dry, I'll head back to the roof and will attend to the questionable seam. Clearly I missed something. I might just as well work on the other seams while I'm up there - adding more silicone.
The rain came down heavily again, putting paid to the motion of more work outside or under the bus. Indeed, even going out to the bus was too much of a challenge. The rain was that heavy!
It rained very heavily overnight. Thus when I checked the inside of the bus, I was pleased to note that water ingress where the ingress had been bad was down to a few drops. The bedroom was down too but there was still a small puddle.
Not so welcome was what had happened to my paintwork. It looks like somebody has thrown acid over the paint. I'm pretty sure they haven't but the hood will have to be redone. There's paint peeling off the rub rails too though curiously only in tiny patches and only on the tops. The roof of the bus is unaffected. It can't be the baking soda because that was all over the roof and the roof is unaffected. It's just the hood (where there was no baking soda) and selected areas on one side of the bus. Notably, under a tree but the tree is only by some affected areas.
If it was a problem with my painting Rustoleum over cellulose then surely the paint would have bubbled universally yet it has not. I'll have to load my sprayer with sugar, sugar blast the affected paint (which peels away in big flakes) then repaint with Rustoleum. Perhaps I'll spray this time.
When its dry, I'll head back to the roof and will attend to the questionable seam. Clearly I missed something. I might just as well work on the other seams while I'm up there - adding more silicone.
The rain came down heavily again, putting paid to the motion of more work outside or under the bus. Indeed, even going out to the bus was too much of a challenge. The rain was that heavy!
Monday, October 5, 2015
South Carolina floods
This is what remains of the road close to where I live. Given that many bridges, roads, dams and homes have been compromised by the recent floods caused by the record-breaking 30 inches of rain over the past few days, its probably pretty safe to say that the roads leading to and from my workplace are impassable. Indeed, due to that I might even be correct to consider that I now need a new job.
Leakage inside my bus overnight was minimal. As its still raining, I couldn't go to put tape on the roof. In fact, aside from looking at things in the bus, I really didn't do anything today.
I'm lucky to be parked on high ground in the countryside. I hear there's major flooding in lower lying areas with many people now being homeless. In the cities and some residential suburbs, looting has become a problem. Much of South Carolina is currently under curfew from 7pm to 6am or dusk til dawn.
If I am correct in needing a new job then my bus is all but ready for living. At a pinch, it is usable - even without running water.
Saturday, October 3, 2015
Bus leaks
Well, it seems the bus leaks could well be due to poorly applied silicone sealant. I had to patch somebody else's sorry excuse for silicone sealing. There are two ways forward:
1. The best method which involves drilling out the roof rivets and replacing the rubber seals.
2. Removing the bad silicone seals and replacing them.
Option one would need probably two or more clones of me, all working 24x7 for a week. I'd also need a big garage in which to work on a 35 foot long, 10 foot high vehicle and that had enough clearance for me! That's just not feasible. Then there's the little matter of finding rivets big enough and a riveter that could handle them.
So, option two. Removing silicone is a difficult task. It can be done manually using a razor blade and a wire brush. This is not easy however. A better method is to use a soda blaster. Soda is relatively inexpensive and the blaster would fit on an available compressor. Having done that, its a case of painting and resealing, both of which are relatively quick jobs. As an emergency measure, duct tape could be used. There is a tarred aluminum tape available but that's a British thing that might not be available in the USA.
Looking around, soda blasters go for horrible prices but soda blaster guns seem to be between $18 and $35. There's no particular reason why other powders cannot be used. I have in mind, flour, sugar and ground coffee. As long as everything is bone dry, there is no reason on earth why sugar could not be used. Painting and sealing would have to be done quickly or the first moisture would generate a sticky mess.
I gather respirators and face masks are highly recommended for any kind of blasting operations. I did have a full face mask once but I think I left it behind at a former residence.
For the moment, until I can get a dry enough day to go on the roof, I'm just trying to aim the drips into a less harmful place. Today I noticed a third drip area inside the bus. Clearly I have several seams to blast, paint and caulk.
I didn't do anything inside the bus today. There's really not much left to do. I decided my curtains will have magnets to hold them to the bus. That'll save messing about putting up curtain rails etc. I did want to tidy up but with wet countertops that's not really practical.
Had I been smart then I'd have put duct tape over the leaky seams a few days ago. Mind I've not been well so perhaps prancing around on a bus roof would not have been a good idea.
I did sweep some of the floor then noticed the remains of a can of white paint so I upended it and spread it around the floor. There really wasn't much.
Now that's oil based paint so in theory it should be much more durable than the latex paint I have used to date. The plan is to put the same kind of black vinyl floor covering on top of it in the areas I'll be walking on that I have on the bedroom floor. In reality the black vinyl runner was only a temporary thing but it seems semi permanent.
In other news, more of my electrical system arrived today. Two Nema 5-30 connectors. I'm waiting on the weather to abate before I can do more. Currently the road outside, such as it is, is deep in mud and quite possibly impassible. It's thus not even possible to venture to the store!
1. The best method which involves drilling out the roof rivets and replacing the rubber seals.
2. Removing the bad silicone seals and replacing them.
Option one would need probably two or more clones of me, all working 24x7 for a week. I'd also need a big garage in which to work on a 35 foot long, 10 foot high vehicle and that had enough clearance for me! That's just not feasible. Then there's the little matter of finding rivets big enough and a riveter that could handle them.
So, option two. Removing silicone is a difficult task. It can be done manually using a razor blade and a wire brush. This is not easy however. A better method is to use a soda blaster. Soda is relatively inexpensive and the blaster would fit on an available compressor. Having done that, its a case of painting and resealing, both of which are relatively quick jobs. As an emergency measure, duct tape could be used. There is a tarred aluminum tape available but that's a British thing that might not be available in the USA.
Looking around, soda blasters go for horrible prices but soda blaster guns seem to be between $18 and $35. There's no particular reason why other powders cannot be used. I have in mind, flour, sugar and ground coffee. As long as everything is bone dry, there is no reason on earth why sugar could not be used. Painting and sealing would have to be done quickly or the first moisture would generate a sticky mess.
I gather respirators and face masks are highly recommended for any kind of blasting operations. I did have a full face mask once but I think I left it behind at a former residence.
For the moment, until I can get a dry enough day to go on the roof, I'm just trying to aim the drips into a less harmful place. Today I noticed a third drip area inside the bus. Clearly I have several seams to blast, paint and caulk.
I didn't do anything inside the bus today. There's really not much left to do. I decided my curtains will have magnets to hold them to the bus. That'll save messing about putting up curtain rails etc. I did want to tidy up but with wet countertops that's not really practical.
Had I been smart then I'd have put duct tape over the leaky seams a few days ago. Mind I've not been well so perhaps prancing around on a bus roof would not have been a good idea.
I did sweep some of the floor then noticed the remains of a can of white paint so I upended it and spread it around the floor. There really wasn't much.
Now that's oil based paint so in theory it should be much more durable than the latex paint I have used to date. The plan is to put the same kind of black vinyl floor covering on top of it in the areas I'll be walking on that I have on the bedroom floor. In reality the black vinyl runner was only a temporary thing but it seems semi permanent.
In other news, more of my electrical system arrived today. Two Nema 5-30 connectors. I'm waiting on the weather to abate before I can do more. Currently the road outside, such as it is, is deep in mud and quite possibly impassible. It's thus not even possible to venture to the store!
posted from Bloggeroid
Friday, July 24, 2015
Getting into her drawers again
After rescuing my damsel in distress to the tune of $2135, I returned to the bus. There really wasn't much left of the day so what was done seems paltry.
The usual problem of heat exhaustion keeps cropping up. I still
need to take more breaks than I would like. The humidity was pretty high which didn't help.
Despite all that, I plugged on, trimmed 4 pieces of 2x2 and fastened them so they're level, ready to attach drawer runners and install drawers. The plan was for four drawers. Then I hit a snag. One set of runners is incomplete. It's also a bit long. All the runners above the seat rail can be 18 inches but the one below has to be 16. Clearly I'll have to hit Lowe's for that. I'm also running low on 1.25 inch drywall screws. I have enough for now but will have to buy more, probably.
Having installed all four strips of wood for the drawer runners, the sky darkened and rain began to fall. That pretty much was the end of work for today.
The drawers I put in yesterday vary. Two are a little stiff and one opens freely. It's probably not worth redoing them but for the sake of ease of use, I might have a go at adjusting them. At least silicone glue can be removed. All I have to do is to peel them apart when the bus is hot. Silicone glue hates heat.
I'm certainly looking forward to completing the project. I've already decided that the first trip I'm going to make with the bus will be a one or two night stay at Sesquicentennial State Park about 40 miles away, just to run a good test on all the systems.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Paint, paint and more paint
Today was just a painting day. Yesterday I put primer and sealer onto the bare wood of the dinette. Today I put primer and topcoat on the dinette. This time though, I used a brush.
The advantage of a brush is that I can get into corners and crevices. The advantage of a roller is that the finish is more even and its faster but it doesn't get into all the imperfections.
Anyway, I painted the inside and outside of the cabinets white. The drawer and doors will be purple as will the walls and ceiling. I'll put the purple paint on after I've done with the kitchen cabinets.
This is what the interior looked like yesterday. Today I didn't get a chance to take a picture because just as I completed painting the dinette, rain began to fall, followed by darkening skies and the sound of the hooves of the horses of the four horsemen of the apocalypse thundering over the horizon. As I'd pretty much finished when the storm began, I closed the bus and rinsed out my brush.
It was a good idea to paint the cabinet with just a single drawer first. It proved how hard if not impossible it is to paint properly with the runners in situ. Painting the dinette used over half a gallon of topcoat. The dinette and ceiling etc took probably two thirds of a gallon of primer too.
I'm not sure how well this latex paint will hold up. I'm hoping it'll last reasonably well. If it doesn't then I'll have to find oil based paint somewhere.
Meanwhile, visitor figures are down without Facebook. On the other hand, I'm not prepared to send Facebook the documents they demand. In fact, I informed Facebook of this. Despite losing maybe 30% of my visitors, its not worth surrendering my identity to something that sounds like a Nigerian scammer.
Reading around, I understand that facebooks stance on proof of ID is generally designed to block San Fransisco drag queens and transsexuals/transvestites from joining in the gender and name of their choice. Essentially, its anti constitutional but who said the Facebook marketing juggernaut cared about human rights or national laws?
A cynic would wonder whether Mark Zuckerburg designed the policy after an unhappy encounter with a drag queen...
The advantage of a brush is that I can get into corners and crevices. The advantage of a roller is that the finish is more even and its faster but it doesn't get into all the imperfections.
Anyway, I painted the inside and outside of the cabinets white. The drawer and doors will be purple as will the walls and ceiling. I'll put the purple paint on after I've done with the kitchen cabinets.
This is what the interior looked like yesterday. Today I didn't get a chance to take a picture because just as I completed painting the dinette, rain began to fall, followed by darkening skies and the sound of the hooves of the horses of the four horsemen of the apocalypse thundering over the horizon. As I'd pretty much finished when the storm began, I closed the bus and rinsed out my brush.
It was a good idea to paint the cabinet with just a single drawer first. It proved how hard if not impossible it is to paint properly with the runners in situ. Painting the dinette used over half a gallon of topcoat. The dinette and ceiling etc took probably two thirds of a gallon of primer too.
I'm not sure how well this latex paint will hold up. I'm hoping it'll last reasonably well. If it doesn't then I'll have to find oil based paint somewhere.
Meanwhile, visitor figures are down without Facebook. On the other hand, I'm not prepared to send Facebook the documents they demand. In fact, I informed Facebook of this. Despite losing maybe 30% of my visitors, its not worth surrendering my identity to something that sounds like a Nigerian scammer.
Reading around, I understand that facebooks stance on proof of ID is generally designed to block San Fransisco drag queens and transsexuals/transvestites from joining in the gender and name of their choice. Essentially, its anti constitutional but who said the Facebook marketing juggernaut cared about human rights or national laws?
A cynic would wonder whether Mark Zuckerburg designed the policy after an unhappy encounter with a drag queen...
Monday, June 22, 2015
Rain stops play
Another scorching hot day loomed. I put off going out to work in the bus as long as possible then braved the heat. The first trip out, I forgot the power drill but I found some of the wood I'd cut yesterday needed finer fitting so that's what I did.
The next trip I remembered the power drill. After a bit of adjusting, drilling and screwing, I'd got most of the center partition for the drawers done when the sky began to darken. I carried on in the mounting gloom until with thunder crashing and rain hammering down, it was too dark.
Returning to the bus I screwed the center partition to the floor (mostly). There were two bolts that just would not go in or rather, the drill wouldn't penetrate after self drilling screws decided to go sideways. There's something amiss under that plywood floor and I'm beginning to regret not ripping up all the plywood. Still, I can always add another bracket in another place - they're not exactly hard to obtain.
Having get as far as I could, somebody suggested a carbide bit. I might get one. While I was there I looked at the drawer slides I'd been given. I seem to have slides for two complete drawers and half the slides needed for two different sized drawers. Interesting! Clearly I need more slides.
The plan is to install three drawers on one side and three or four on the other. Having also today looked at Eric's blog, I noticed he has a nice glass washing basin that stood on top of his countertop. Interesting and I'll have to think about it! It's an idea.
The next trip I remembered the power drill. After a bit of adjusting, drilling and screwing, I'd got most of the center partition for the drawers done when the sky began to darken. I carried on in the mounting gloom until with thunder crashing and rain hammering down, it was too dark.
Returning to the bus I screwed the center partition to the floor (mostly). There were two bolts that just would not go in or rather, the drill wouldn't penetrate after self drilling screws decided to go sideways. There's something amiss under that plywood floor and I'm beginning to regret not ripping up all the plywood. Still, I can always add another bracket in another place - they're not exactly hard to obtain.
Having get as far as I could, somebody suggested a carbide bit. I might get one. While I was there I looked at the drawer slides I'd been given. I seem to have slides for two complete drawers and half the slides needed for two different sized drawers. Interesting! Clearly I need more slides.
The plan is to install three drawers on one side and three or four on the other. Having also today looked at Eric's blog, I noticed he has a nice glass washing basin that stood on top of his countertop. Interesting and I'll have to think about it! It's an idea.
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